Metro

World

Spiritual

11 Oct 2017

A plane crashed in front of mourners who had gathered to remember the victims of a plane crash in 1972. The light aircraft came down near a barbecue being held in Montevideo, Uruguay, to mark the 45th anniversary of a crash that left 29 people dead.

29 people were killed in the 1972 plane crash (Picture: Getty)

Pilot Rodrigo Artagaveytia was rescued from the remains of the Piper J3 plane, but his co-pilot, Chilean doctor Fernando Gonzalez Foretic, is missing, El Pais reported.

The search for Mr Foretic is ongoing. It was witnessed by survivors of the Air Force Flight 571 crash in 1972.

Roberto Canessa said: ‘I am with the Chileans, who are very sad, I am accompanying them. I feel very bad.’ The 16 survivors of the crash had gathered to pay tribute to those who died on the 45th anniversary.

The 16 survivors had gathered for the 45th anniversary (Picture: Getty)

Their plane was carrying Uruguayan rugby players and their families to a game in Chile, but crashed in the mountains.

Some lost their lives instantly while others died in the 72 days before the group was finally rescued – with some resorting to cannabalism to survive in the meantime.

Their ordeal was memorialised in Alive, the 1993 film starring Ethan Hawke.